About this show

In Rajiv Joseph’s Red Folder, a first grader’s elementary school folder is just a folder, until it isn’t. In this short virtual play, a child’s world is turned upside down when he starts to believe his self-worth should be measured by which side of his school folder, left or right, his work belongs in. Inspired by this exceptional piece of storytelling, Joseph’s play will be packaged for teachers to stream for free in classrooms around the world in addition to a suite of virtual fodder encouraging students to consider their own red folders by asking, “How can art act as a tool for reflection, helping us to see something from our past in a new light?”

ABOUT THIS PROJECT

Made by teens, for teens, The Red Folder Project offers an opportunity to peek inside the artistic process for a unique educational experience exploring not only how art gets made, but why. Developed by a team of youth curators working in collaboration with the Steppenwolf Education team, The Red Folder Project will feature a suite of digital programming allowing high school students the chance to engage with the work of art in their classrooms, and create their own works of art alongside playwright and Steppenwolf ensemble member Rajiv Joseph and other artists at the center of the Red Folder animated play. 

Inspired by the rigorous and messy work that happens as a part of Steppenwolf’s In School Residency programs, The Red Folder Project will encourage self reflection, conversation, and art-making as students ask “Who am I?”, “What do I want?", “What am I creating?” and “What do I need?”—all while considering how the past versions of ourselves inform our present identities and the future worlds that we might dream up.

What can I expect as a part of The Red Folder Project?

Participating students and classroom teachers will receive exclusive access to a digital suite of programming developed and curated by a team of Chicagoland teens in collaboration with Steppenwolf Education. This curriculum has been designed from a youth perspective specifically to address the uniqueness of hybrid learning and will include a mixture of synchronous and asynchronous learning/instruction, as well as opportunities for virtual and analog art making.

The Red Folder Project's digital suite of programming will include:

• Digital access to Red Folder,as well as access to Spanish captioned and ASL interpreted versions of the play.
• Never-before-seen conversations with Steppenwolf ensemble members Rajiv Joseph (playwright, director, illustrator) and Carrie Coon (narrator), as well as artists Chris P. Thompson (original music), Christopher Huizar (lead animation artist) and Joel Moorman (editor and animation artist).
• Behind the scenes insight into the artistic and technical process of what it means to bring an illustrated play to life on the virtual stage from the people who made it happen.
• The opportunity for students to participate in and contribute to a global art making project inspired by Red Folder.
• Lesson plans and classroom activities (designed for all learning environments) exploring the question: How do the past versions of ourselves inform our present identities and the future worlds that we might dream up?
• A full study guide consisting of breakdowns of plot, character, and setting, as well as production details, information about the author and the adaptation process and discussions of themes and images in the play.
• The script of Red Folder available for use in the classroom.

Note: The study guide for Red Folder Project is currently password protected. We welcome you to register to bring The Red Folder Project and the accompanying suite of digital content to your students! You can do so by following this link.